April 25, 2009

Final Stats

Final Box

Ypsilanti, Mich. - With Northern Illinois ahead 3-2 in the fifth inning, Eastern Michigan put up three runs in the frame and added four in the sixth to earn a 11-7 win on Saturday afternoon at Oestrike Stadium to even the series between the two Mid-American Conference teams in a game that featured seven homeruns, four by EMU (13-28, 6-11 MAC) and three by NIU (15-24, 6-10 MAC).

"Eastern Michigan played long ball on us and got a lot of runs through homers," said NIU head coach Ed Mathey. "I have to give them credit because they got guys on in front of them. Chris Wakefield had a one-hitter going in the fifth, but they got to him and walks piled up a bit as we tried to stretch him out a bit. They did a good job of hitting our relievers and that proved to be the difference in the game."

After a two-run homer by Todd Graves gave the Eagles a 2-0 lead in the second, the Huskies used a pair of long balls to take a 3-2 lead in the fourth as Joe Etcheverry (Bakersfield, Calif./Centennial) hit a solo shot in the third and Justin Behm (Downers Grove, Ill./North) knocked out a two-run homer in the fourth that put him in a tie for third on the all-time NIU homerun list with 23.

NIU then loaded the bases with one out in the top of the fifth looking to add on to the lead, but Tim Combs came in to strike out Dave Reynolds (Orland Park, Ill./Sandburg) and Behm to escape. EMU built on that sequence by responding with three runs in the bottom half to take a 5-3 advantage after a solo homer from Jim Gulliver and a two-run shot by Aaron Crooks.

"Our guys had some pitches to be aggressive with and didn't get it done there in the fifth," Mathey said. "It was a day that you didn't want to be down in the count. It was obviously a pick-me-up for them and they came back with runs to take the momentum. We needed to score some runs in the top of that inning, but we didn't get it done."

An inning later, the Eagles added to their lead by loading the bases with one out, scoring a runs on a wild pitch by Tom Barry (Orland Park, Ill./Providence Catholic), a two-run single by Matt Skirving and an RBI triple by Crooks for a 9-3 lead that left too much of a deficit for NIU to overcome.

Combs (1-6) earned the win in relief after getting the two big strikeouts in the fifth as he went the final 4.2 innings, allowing four earned runs on four hits and three walks with seven strikeouts. EMU starter Jordan Glover lasted 4.1 innings, surrendering three earned runs on six hits and three walks with three strikeouts. NIU starter Chris Wakefield (Canton, Ga./Cherokee) took the loss (0-4) after throwing five innings, giving up five earned runs on five hits and four walks with a season-high five strikeouts.

Graves led the Eagle offense with a perfect 3-for-3 day with two homers, three runs and three RBI. Crooks also drove in three on two hits with a homerun and a run scored. Skirving added two hits, two runs, and two RBI, while Gulliver had two hits and two runs as well in addition to a solo homer and a stolen base.

Reynolds continued to stay hot as he led the Huskie offense with a 2-for-4 game with two runs, a stolen base and a three-run homer. He now has 24 RBI in his last 10 games and has tallied at least one hit in each of those games for his second hitting streak of the season of 10 or more games. He also now has six homers on the season, which is just one shy of his career-high, and has homered in back-to-back games for the second time this year.

Behm also had a good day at the plate as he went 2-for-4 with a run and two RBI on his sixth homer of the year. Troy White (Chicago, Ill./Whitney Young) and Etcheverry each had a hit with an RBI as White's came on a single and Etcheverry's came on his second homer of the year, which is a new career-high.

The teams will play the rubber match tomorrow at 12 p.m. CT with both starters yet to be named. The game will have live stats available on www.emueagles.com.

Huskie Notes

- The Huskies have had a player get multiple hits in all but three games, led by Jordin Hood's (Hawthorn Woods, Ill./Lake Zurich) 18.

- NIU has belted 10 or more hits 23 times and has done so nine of its last 10 games.

- Matt Behren (Elmwood Park, Ill./Holy Cross) has a six-game hitting streak.